Jesus continues to implore us to do all things for the honor and glory for God and not for our own honor or glory.
Malachi is direct in his assessment of the behavior of the priests of Israel. He tells them they have turned away from God and broken the covenant he made with the Levites teaching only what they want to teach and not the whole truth, and, because of this have led God’s people away from God. His final statement, “We have all been created by the same God, haven’t we” Then why are we dishonest with each other? Why do we break the covenant of our fathers and hurt one another?”
Jesus has been shedding light on the hypocrisy of the Pharisees for several weeks now. Today he really exposes their motives, saying, “For they preach but they do not practice.” He shows us what they are, hypocrites, and illustrates for us how not to follow their poor example.
Malachi’s question, “We have all been created by the same God, haven’t we?” should remind us that we are ALL the children of God, we ALL have the SAME heavenly Father and are, therefore, all equal in His eyes. If, then, we recall the greatest commandment, love God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind, and the second greatest commandment which is to love your neighbor as yourself, and combine these commandments with our full and complete understanding that WE are ALL CREATED EQUAL in the eyes of God then we can avoid the traps and falls of the Pharisees. We can avoid being hypocrites because we will do what we say, live what we preach and believe. Our example, in ourselves, of a good Christian is the strongest testament to God’s greatness and His great love.
We cannot pick and choose who we love, we love all. Do we think poorly of certain individuals because of their lack of wealth, their disability, their religious beliefs? If we are following the most important commandments we cannot mark certain individuals as worthy and others as not because God loves all just the same. If to Jesus ALL people were worth dying for, on a cross, who are we to pick an choose individual worthiness of love?
The Psalm this week finding peace in God and also attests to doing all things for the greater glory of God, and not for our own glory:
O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother's lap,
so is my soul within me.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
O Israel, hope in the LORD,
both now and forever.
(Link to the Psalm and lead sheet: Psalm 131: In You, Lord, I Have Found My Peace)
Do you understand what Jesus is saying in the Gospel today? “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” If we do all things for our own glory and our own honor we will reap our reward now in this lifetime in the form of prestige and wealth. What, then will be our reward in heaven?
In the second reading (1 Thessalonians 2:7b-8, 13) before the Gospel today Paul describes himself, Silvanus and Timothy as gentle, caring, sharing and affectionate, and working night and day not to burden anyone. How are we like, or unlike that description? How can we be better examples of our Christianity? Remember that you may be the only Gospel someone reads that day, meaning your Christian appearance, demeanor and treatment of others with LOVE may be a life saving and life changing experience for someone who may be desperate for something good in their lives.
We can all improve ourselves in some small way each day and work toward a life that is dedicated to LOVE, an awesome and immeasurable power! If you have LOVE you cannot hate. If you have LOVE you cannot be indifferent to pain and suffering.
Peace.